[mleskovar]

Is the sump drain plug the only way to change 230i oil? No way to vacuum it out from under the hood?

[MarcoZandrini]

That's it! BMW did away with dipsticks with the E90. Claimed that the dipstick is a source of air poluution. HA! The real intent was to force non-technical owners back to the dealer.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini

The real intent was to force non-technical owners back to the dealer.

Indeed. I took my car in for an oil change last week and the SA pointed out that next year I'd qualify for BMW's Ultimate Care Oil Services. That offers 3 years prepaid oil changes for $199 for BMWs that have reached 60 months or 60,000 miles. There's a bit more detail here: https://bmwusaservice.com/ultimatecare.

While my car won't have anywhere near 60K on the clock next fall, it will have passed 60 months since being manufactured in May, 2017.

As you say, the purpose is to encourage owners to bring their cars into the dealership so that other parts and services might be offered. For example, during my visit last week, I was offered the opportunity to have my car inspected for a fairly long list of items shown to me on a printout. Expecting nothing of note to be found, I agreed to the inspection. The cost was $124, and nothing was found.

I was sent a video showing that I had plenty of tire tread and brake pad depth. That's not what was said, though; instead, the depths were recited in millimeters and shown on the tech's measuring device. These were facts I already knew as the parts had extremely few miles on them.

I wonder what the average owner thinks when he or she receives one of these videos and watches them on their phone, assuming they even bother. I'd be interested in the data on how many owners watch the entire minute or so of their video.

The oil change cost me $152. After 45 minutes and $309, I got my car back with its oil refreshed and the certain knowledge that nothing on the inspection list shown to me was amiss. The breakdown for the combined services was:

Labor: $176 (effectively, for this visit, $235/hour)
Parts: $100 (oil filter - $30; oil - $70)
Waste Disposal: $11
Tax: $22

Dealers have a remarkable amount of overhead. I suspect a well-run independent does very well without having to engage in all the folderol that BMW requires of its dealers.

Every non-car person I know who owns a German car or SUV takes it to their dealer for any and all services. The dealers make this easy: centrally-located facilities, loaner vehicles, pickup and delivery, decent beverages if you wait for your vehicle, "service advisors" with good people (and sales!) skills, much spiffier surroundings than independents offer, etc., etc. All that overhead is baked into the cost of parts and labor, as is the cost of the dealership's modern buildings, more expensive real estate, etc.

Although this last dealership visit of mine wasn't particularly cost effective, I'll use my dealer when it is. Dollar-wise, the vast majority of my spending on the M240i will continue to be with aftermarket and discounted OEM parts vendors and with my local go-to independent.

[mleskovar]

I prefer to service my own vehicles for the convenience and knowledge it's being done correctly. Make an appointment online, show up at the dealer and wait in line, listen to the service writer try to up sell your visit without even looking at your car, get an Uber back home, wait 5 or 6 hours and sometimes next day, go back to the dealer and wait in line again to pick up your car, listen to the service writer again while they recommend everything under the sun that "could" be done for precautionary reasons, get your car and drive home. Without the wait time while you're away we're talking 3 hours of time at a minimum and a shot day(s). Then you look at what they touched. Missing fasteners, misaligned o-rings and gaskets, broken or missing plastic pieces, short or over fill on the oil (several times for me). You'll have 25% brake pads remaining and they want to replace them. They want to change your brake fluid when I check it before going in for moisture and it's fine (only reason to change it). Face it, it's a business and the service writers are judged/paid for how much $ they write and the mechanics are paid to do what they're told quickly and nothing more. Most fluid checks today are visual or not at all unless there's a leak and all the "lubrication" points are ignored so all the "check list" stuff is a fantasy. I'll go to an indy for oil changes on this car because it's just too hard to get my old body under it. EOR